United States Department of Labor , Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Education - Alex Siber

Alex Siber
Political Science
1/14/12

The Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services  

The United States Department of Labor

The United States Department of Labor protects and lobbies for the security and wellbeing of job seekers, wage earners, and those who have retired in this country. The Department of Labor aims to improve working conditions for many different jobs across a variation of different industries, thus meaning regulation, inspection, and reinforcement of numerous laws. Furthermore, the Department of Labor assists employers in hiring workers, and tracks changes in national employment, national prices, as well as other economic measures such as the calculation of GDP. The Secretary of Labor is responsible for overseeing the efficient and successful completion of the aforementioned objectives for the Department. The Secretary of Labor and his or her office is also responsible for protecting retirement and healthcare benefits, and protects the ability of labor unions to collectively operate without extreme backlash from corporations. The Department of Labor is responsible for implementing labor laws to enforce these objectives, including minimum hourly wages and overtime pay, freedom from employment discrimination, and income support. The Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, recently resigned, and President Obama has yet to name her replacement.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services

The Department of Health and Human Services is in charge of protecting the general health of all American citizens, and provides basic human health services for those who are disabled, impoverished, etc. The Department of Health and Human Services is the source of more grant money than all other federal agencies combined, and is responsible for Medicare, the largest health insurer in the United States. Such programs are further run on a local and state level, either through local agencies or private sector grantees. These programs are overseen by eleven divisions, eight of which making up the Public Health Service, with the other three serving as human services agencies. These agencies are responsible for overseeing a total of 300 individual programs. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is currently Kathleen Sebelius.